1. Start by making a budget

Many people end up getting themselves into tons of debt over the holidays and that’s definitely a trap that you don’t want to fall into.

Before you start your holiday shopping, make sure that you take inventory of your finances.

See how much you have to spend on gifts each month. Doing this will prevent you from overspending and helps you to come up with a plan of action for buying your gifts.

So get a concrete figure for how much you can afford to spend on gifts.

This really is key for doing Christmas on a budget.

Now, it doesn’t have to be an exact figure, after all, all good budgets are flexible.

It’s just a ballpark figure that helps you to stay on track.

Once you have this total, you need to create a list of the people who you need to buy gifts for and put a dollar amount next to each name.

This list can be written on paper or you can create a list on your computer or phone if you prefer.

Now, when you come to shop, you know how much you can actually afford to spend!

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2. Start saving early if you can

It’s much easier to save $100 a month, for three months, than it is to save $300 in one month.

You can even buy your gifts over a three month period. Shopping for your gifts earlier not only spreads out the cost, but it also means you’re super prepared and can avoid the crowded stores!

There are even free Christmas printable charts you can get that help you to save for Christmas. These saving for Christmas charts feature a time-frame, usually between 26 to 52 weeks, and a dollar amount. These charts can help you to keep track of your savings and stay motivated with your savings goals.

5. Become an Amazon Prime member

We’ve talked about Amazon Prime here on Money Pantry a few times, because it is such a great tool for saving money.

If you, like millions of other people across the country, often shop at Amazon, then you should definitely consider becoming a Prime member.

Prime offers a multitude of benefits and can actually save you hundreds of dollars a year.

First, there are the perks that come along with membership. Such benefits include access to free music, through Prime Music, free eBooks, through numerous programs, like Prime Reading, and Amazon Prime Video.

This is Amazon’s streaming platform. It’s like Netflix in that you get access to hundreds of movies, television shows and documentaries; some of them released elsewhere too and some that are exclusive to the platform.

These benefits alone make the $10.99 a month you pay for membership worth it.

That’s not all though.

The biggest benefit of Prime and the reason you should join if you’re looking to save money on Christmas gifts is that you get free shipping on all items. Sure, there are ways to get free shipping without Amazon Prime, but it’s very limited.

And you do not have to meet a minimum spending limit in order to qualify for this free shipping.

As long as an item is Prime eligible and you’re a member, you can get it shipped to your home at no additional cost.

Over Christmas, if you do much of your shopping online, then you’ll know how much shipping costs can eat into your budget. If you plan to spend $30 on a person’s gift this Christmas but have to pay $5 for shipping, then that $30 you assigned in your budget soon becomes just $25 or you have to spend more than you planned to.

Since shipping costs can be anywhere from $3 to $11 and more in some cases, being a Prime member significantly lowers the cost of each order you place on Amazon.

We did a full review of Amazon Prime, where we talked about how much it can save you, and how, even if you only order a few items per month from Amazon, Prime still saves you money.

We also cover how you can save $176 a month, over six months with Prime.

6. Buy gifts using discount gift cards

This is such a useful tip that can really make a difference.

You’ve probably received a gift card at one point or another, from a well-meaning friend or relative, for a store that you don’t really shop at or a brand that you don’t really like.

12. Track prices on Amazon with CamelCamelCamel

I’ve often found that if I return to my cart the next day, I’ll have a little notification from Amazon that tells me that items in my cart have changed price.

These price fluctuations can be annoying, because often you’ll find that you buy something on Amazon on one day, and the very next day the price of that item has now dropped, so you miss out on the chance to save money.

When you shop using a credit card or debit card, it’s really easy to lose track of how much you’ve spent. Cash, on the other hand, is much easier to track.

A good tip that will save you even more money is to get an envelope for each person who you plan to buy for and then put the amount of money, in cash, that you plan to spend on them.

Write each person’s name on their envelope and then you’ll know exactly how much you’ve spent and how much you have left to spend when you go shopping.

20. Sign up to Email lists

If you plan to shop online, then you should definitely sign up to email lists.

A lot of brands and retailers have an email list that you can sign up for. All you generally need to do is enter a few basic details, like, of course, your email address and name.

Then, you’ll receive discounts and special offers via email.

For example, Yankee Candle has an email list you can sign up to here. When you sign up, you get exclusive news and special offers.

Some brands and stores will even give you a discount just for signing up. For example, Macy’s gives you 25% off when you sign up for emails, in addition to sending you details about sales and events.

21. Re-gift

At Christmas time, many of us receive gifts we don’t really want from well-meaning relatives.

This means that we end up with stuff that simply takes up space in our homes.

Instead of leaving your unwanted gifts to gather dust in the black of a closet, or throwing them out, give them to others for Christmas instead!

The recipient won’t know you’ve re-gifted the item – and you don’t have to spend a cent.

Just make sure that you remember who the gift was from originally to avoid giving it back to that person!

22. Use coupons, discounts, promo codes & other deals strategically

A coupon that gives you 10% off is great, but what if you could combine that coupon with a promo code that gets you free shipping?

You’d save even more money!

This is why using codes and deals strategically is such a good idea.

Whenever you can, combine manufacturer coupons with store coupons, and use promo codes and coupon codes together if you can as well.

You’ll really maximize your savings!

If you pay using a discount gift card as well, you’ll save even more!

23. Use multiple email addresses to get more savings

As we mentioned above, signing up to brands’ and retailers’ email lists is such an easy way to get your hands on some great discounts.

But there’s a way that you can use email lists to save even more money!

Just sign up to these email lists multiple times, with different email addresses.

You can get email addresses so easily, for free as well, from places like Outlook, Yahoo Mail and Gmail.

By signing up using a few different email addresses, you’ll multiply the number of discounts, deals, promo codes and coupon codes that you get, and therefore, save more money.

24. Buy gifts after Christmas

A good time to buy Christmas gifts is actually after the holiday is over.

After Christmas, most people’s budgets are stretched pretty thinly.

So stores and brands hold sales to entice people to buy.

This means that in January, you can often get some great deals in sales.

You can purchase items in the January sales and then save them until December.

You’ll not only be super prepared for next Christmas, but you’ll also save yourself a ton of money too.

25. Give baked goods

If you’re really tight on cash, consider giving out baked Christmas treats, like Christmas cookies for the holiday. You just need a tin and a few baking supplies and you have a great, budget-friendly Christmas gift.

27. Be wary of Buy More, Save More deals

Around the holidays, stores commonly have deals on where if you spend a certain amount, then you save a certain amount.

Like, spend $50, get $10 off.

These deals are certainly good if you plan to spend the amount featured in the deal anyway.

But the problem with these deals is that they can entice you into spending more than you planned to.

And when you spend more on items you didn’t really plan to buy, in order to save, then you’re not really saving – you’re spending more.

Only take advantage of these deals if you actually need the items you are required to buy to get the saving. After all, if you spend $50 to get $10 back when you only planned to spend $20 in a store, then you haven’t really spent less.

When you buy less, you spend less. Just stick to the budget you made earlier.

28. Split the Cost of a Gift

If there’s a family member who wants a gift that’s a bit too expensive for your budget, then consider splitting the cost of it with another family member.

For example, if your mom wants something that costs $200, but you only planned to spend $100, then split the cost with a sibling, and each pay $100. You’ll find that most family members are happy to split the cost, as everyone wants to save money over the holidays.

29. Shop alone

When you shop with someone else, then you’re more likely to spend less. Sometimes, friends or family members can, well-meaningly, convince you to buy something that you didn’t plan to purchase. They might say something, like “you should get it,” or “you should definitely buy that.”

Since friends and family members can so easily distract you from your budget and shopping plan, it’s a good idea to shop alone!

30. Shop at discount and consignment stores

Discount and consignment stores are great places to find items from well-known brands at a low price.

Stores where you can find some great deals include:

Dollar stores

TJ Maxx

Marshalls

Ross Stores

Big Lots

If you shop at one of these stores and use a discount gift card or cashback credit card to pay with, and use coupons too, then you’ll save even more!

31. Give DIY Gifts this Year

If you have a pretty tight budget, then consider making some of the products yourself.

Doing this can save you so much money.

And you’d be surprised by how many great DIY Christmas gift ideas there are out there.

Make extra cash easily & use it to buy Christmas gifts

Saving money is great, but making more money is too. By making a little extra cash around the holidays, you can lessen the stress of paying for gifts. You’ll have more to spend!

There are two easy ways that we recommend for making a little extra spending money for Christmas:

Joining rewards websites.

Taking surveys.

We recommend these two methods for a few reasons:

Anyone can do them; there are no specific qualifications or experience needed to take surveys or complete tasks. .

They’re super easy, requiring little thought or effort.

You can do them anywhere and in your downtime. You don’t need to block out huge chunks of time. You can easily take surveys and complete tasks while in bed, during a commercial break or while waiting at the doctor’s office.

Let’s take a quick look at how you can use survey and rewards websites to earn money for Christmas gifts.

Take surveys

You can easily make money for Christmas gifts by taking surveys.

The key to making money successfully with survey websites is to join a few of them.

The more survey websites you’re a member of, the more survey’s you’ll get.

Having a constant stream of surveys will ensure that there are always ones available that you qualify for.

Closing thoughts

Christmas certainly is an expensive time of year.

But as you can see, there are plenty of things that you can do to save money on Christmas gifts.

Each year, we all put so much pressure on ourselves to buy tons of gifts for our friends and family. So it’s really easy to fall into that trap of overspending, which negatively affects our finances long after the holiday season is over.

That’s why budgeting and doing whatever you can to save is so important.

Create a budget, as we suggested above (it really is key to saving money on holiday gifts) and follow our tips.

And finally, don’t stress yourself out too much.

Christmas is supposed to be a fun time of year. Don’t feel like you need to spend a ton of money on gifts to enjoy it or to please friends and family. Have a happy holiday!

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